We've been in planning mode at Heirloom Meals. Working on a book proposal and developing a social media plan.

In the meantime, check out Carole's recent article in Zester Daily about how an amazing cleanse taught her how to honor her food.

Carole will be apprearing on Newchannel 13, Albany, NY's NBC affiliate on Sunday, June 29th around 8.30 AM. Tune in or check back for the video.

Carole will be back on Nantucket at the Westmoor Club on July 20th-23rd - we will be working on a Heirloom Recipe scrapbook for the members.

And, we have been working on developing a calendar of cooking classes and retreats at Boulderwood. So far, we have a four-day retreat planned with an amazing healer, Pat Caffrey, a writing workshop with Nancy Aronie and many more in the works.

I am so pleased to announce a collaboration between Heirloom Meals and Pat Caffrey/ Angelic Council of LIGHT. Heirloom Meals will be hosting Pat's Retreat at Boulderwood.

For eons humanity has believed it was separate from everything in the universe, including each other. Now that you are reaching the evolutionary phase of transition to a higher level of being, we find it necessary to celebrate the Rites of Passage to help you walk into a new experience of yourself in this world. You are not soul OR physicality; you are BOTH.

You are moving from an experience of separation to unity. It will no longer be two different worlds. You are actually raising the vibration of your physical bodies to incorporate your soul into this world. It is with these Rites of Passage that we will celebrate you as the new, luminous, human being.

The Six Sacred Rites of Passage will be conducted with understanding and awareness, connection with the realm of your spirit/soul, and direct physical experience in this world. We will use meditative techniques, education, and energetic touch to ignite the transition from spirit to physical being.

The Rites of Passage are:

Sacred Soul

Your Sacred Soul is the essence of who you are. It is the consciousness of all that is seen and unseen. It is the part of God that is YOU. It is the individuated part of you, as separate from the whole.

Sacred Fire

Sacred Fire is the burning passion that resonates with the soul’s purpose in this life existence. It is the spark that lights the heart into life. It is the process that fuels your physical heart. It is the resonance that is closest to your own soul’s purpose. When you feel this in your life, it is the sign that you are as close to your soul’s purpose as you can be.

Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart is the physical/non-physical container that holds the Sacred Fire. It is the furnace that warms the body and experience of life as a physical being. It is the connector between the spiritual realm and physical experience. It is the direct-connect to “home”.

Sacred Contract

The Sacred Contract is the agreement your soul has with your greater consciousness, higher self, or God. It contains the lessons you choose to experience in this life experience.

Sacred Vessel

Your Sacred Vessel is the “physical” vehicle you experience life with in this world. It is actually a matrix of light. That light is interpreted with your physical eyes as the body. You are not IN it; you ARE it. It is the holographic, multidimensional image that you know as you.

Sacred Union

The Sacred Union is the binding with or alignment of your Sacred Soul with your Sacred Vessel. It has been believed that you are one or the other, but not both as one. It is time to merge and BE this union.

Are you ready to receive the six sacred rites of passage for humanity while visiting on one of the most magical places in the United States?

In April-May, 2015, we are delighted to offer a four day workshop with Pat Caffrey and The Angelic Council of LIGHT. In this extraordinary home called Boulderwood, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, The Angelic Council of LIGHT will share with us The Six Sacred Rites of Passage for Humanity. Be part of these life-changing Sacred Rites. For sure, this will be a major milestone on your spiritual journey.

About Pat Caffrey and the ANGELIC COUNCIL OF LIGHT:

“Pat Caffrey is, I believe, one of the greatest spiritual teachers and healers working in America today....in the unlikeliest of packages. Pat has not spent years wandering around India looking for a guru, nor does she speak "New Age lingo", nor is she touchy-feely. She is a down-to-earth, pragmatic and no-nonsense New England mother and grandmother. A thirty-year veteran of Emergency Room nursing, she has just about seen it all.

This gift (embodying the Angelic Council of LIGHT) came to Pat unexpected and uninvited; and her reverence for her bewildering gift comes through in her work……….Testimonial from workshop participant (California).

Pat was an RN for many years, working in the world of emergency medicine until she experienced a back injury, which left her paralyzed and disabled. She had a miraculous out-of-body healing experience that led her to learn all she could about healing, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. She worked her way back to health and dedicated her life to showing others that they have the power to heal on all levels.

She is a message of Peace and Compassion. She now embodies the Angelic Council of LIGHT, which includes beings of the Angelic Realm and Ascended Masters. Because of this unique connection, they are able to see and feel you and you can see and feel them. They are Grace, personified.

She/They are a vibration of love in the form of light that will reawaken and “light up” the heart/soul that is you. She does this with spoken word, mudra, and touch of light that will spark your remembrance of who you are. It is at this space where all healing takes place. This loving vibration produces a transformation of body, mind and spiritual essence.

She has studied for many years with teachers and masters in this world as well as Masters and guides in the inner dimensions and has mastered the art of living in different dimensions, simultaneously and consciously. She brings wisdom from places such as Peru and Tibet, where she was recently gifted with a mudra to open the hearts of man. It is with the use of this high vibrational energy that she facilitates the restoration of the hearts of participants in workshops and healing sessions.

All sessions are filled with compassion and deep love. In a group session she speaks, answers questions and holds this mudra so you may awaken in it. She also facilitates a powerful healing modality, done privately, which aligns the tissue with the vibration of light. Long dormant codes of light within the DNA are awakened, bringing transformation on all levels. The truth within is exposed, removing blocks and patterns so lifetimes of healing can take place. Workshops are intensive, personal, interactive and life changing.

Pat is an international speaker and has also presented for groups and venues in the United States, such as A.R.E., Association for Research and Enlightenment (Edgar Cayce Center) and United States Public Health Service in Dallas, TX. She also speaks and facilitates groups and programs worldwide.

She is a teacher, author and facilitator of her own unique groups and programs. She has produced several CDs containing messages from the Council. She is the author of “On Feet of Light”, a Spiritual Journey and “The Sparkling Rainbow”, a teaching guide for beginners. She is presently working on her next book, filled with wisdom from the Angelic Council of LIGHT.

About your Host, Carole Murko:

Carole has always been highly spiritual. Through a series of minor illnesses and a desire to become more connected with the divine, Carole sought healers and was guided to work with Pat. Carole shares that her many session with Pat have helped her heal wounds carried in her spirit DNA. So much so that Carole learned she is an earth angel. Pat has guided her to step into herself fully.

Carole is the creator, host and executive producer of Heirloom Meals. She created Heirloom Meals, which is a storytelling platform to share people’s palpable emotional connection with their family food memories, recipes, stories and tips. She hosts a weekly radio show on NPR and has aired 2 PBS specials, Heirloom Meals Christmas and Heirloom Meals Thanksgiving. Both shows provided a cathartic experience for the show’s guests as well as the viewers’. To learn more about Carole, visit www.heirloommeals.com

About Nancy Lee, our chef for the retreat:

Nancy Lee is an herbalist, healer and intuitive. She believes that foods contain healing energies. She also believes that everyone should treat their bodies with absolute reverence. As such, by honoring both the food we consume and our vessel, we become whole beings and truly grounded. Nancy combines several cooking styles from macrobiotic to ayurvedic. She will bring all her wisdom to bear on the meals she creates for us during the retreat.

About Bouderwood:

Carole is blessed to live a magical life with Jim Finnerty, their border collie, chickens, horses and cows on an 80 acre estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts called Boulderwood where the retreat is being hosted. Nestled on a hillside with distant views and surrounded by Beartown State Forest, Boulderwood offers the perfect blend of homey comfort and stately charm. The landscape is scattered with boulders, large and small. These boulders hold a wonderful energy as does the house. Many people claim they get the best night’s sleep. Carole calls it the Boulderwood sleep coma.

What’s Included in your Sacred Rites Retreat:

- Four day workshop with Pat Caffrey and The Angelic Council of LIGHT - The Six Sacred Rites of Passage for Humanity

- Welcome dinner, snacks, beverages and lunch each day, and a departing dinner.

Cost: $795 (taxes and fees included), pricing does not include rooms. Should you wish to stay at Boulderwood, the cost per night is $125 single occupancy. If you share a room it is $75pp. Continental Breakfast included. Please call Carole at 413-298-0173 to provide credit card information or click on this link.

Note: The Six Sacred Rites of Passage for Humanity workshop is limited to 20 attendees.

Sometimes life delivers you a pause. And generally, it is because that is exactly what you needed.

I admit it, I have been working non-stop for years. No time off. No vacation. I honestly couldn't even tell you what I liked to do for fun. And I realized that was pathetic. I love to cook and entertain but seriously, there are tons of other things I like to do too. I just

I learned in high school that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. With that as my foundation combined with my experiences, it is no wonder that I have always believed that power is bad.

Jim was reading some article in the paper out loud as he does most mornings. While I don’t remember for the life of me what the article was about, I know I wrote down on the pad near the stove, “ a revelation about power.” It struck me right there and then that I have it all wrong about power. Power is actually good. It’s how you use power that can be either good or bad. For instance, you use power to lift someone up or hold someone down. Good power or bad power.

My experience with power has generally been bad. In my twenties, I was fired from a job for insubordination when I turned down my bosses sexual passes. I pursued a wrongful termination suit and learned it’s all about power and again, the context of power in this instance was bad. I watched colleagues back-stab, steal, and cheat to get ahead for money and power. And then I was sued by a crazy lady who turned out to be a serial suer. She prayed on the small vendor and she had to be right. There was no room for a rational conversation. She had power over me. And the list goes on and on. What I now see is that these experiences made me afraid. In fact, so much so that I started giving my power away. Afterall, I didn’t ever want to be someone who exerted power. Power was bad.

One day, I mentioned to a dear friend that I felt small. It was a passing comment. What showed up in my snail mail box was the most wonderful passage:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

― Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"

I am now both holding onto my power and I am stepping into my power. When you live from your heart with love as your guiding principle miracles do happen. And I remind myself when I walk into a room that there’s nothing to fear when I show up as the authentic me – a quirky, adventurous, spirited, pioneering, creative, nurturer, loving connector and joy gatherer – no matter what I do for a living. And I hold my hand out and offer to lift you up. Whether I am helping you tell your family food stories through Heirloom Meals, or helping you make your house a beautiful place to live, or helping you finding a home, or being your friend, colleague, or neighbor. This is my power and it is good.